I made it almost three months into the Year of Only One Camera (my Rolleiflex 2.8F) but then – as some of you predicted – made the decision to allow myself a brief holiday from my resolution. I prefer “holiday” with its festive connotations to the somewhat more pointed terms my daughter suggested. (Relapse! Failure! Surrender!) At almost 18, she’s far brighter than I am, but I leave it to you, dear readers, to judge the depths of my sin.
My reason for this choice? Wanting to shoot a roll of Kodak UltraMax 400 (not available in 120 format) on an evening walk when the violet hour in NYC was surpassingly beautiful and moody. Having 36 exposures to play with felt like a luxury, as was the chance to (at last!) use faster optics again. The lens I carried was my 1950s Canon 50mm F1.4, aka “the Japanese Summilux,” mounted on a trusty 1961 Leica M3.
As dusk was falling, I set off across the Manhattan Bridge, then wound my way through the streets of lower Manhattan to the Brooklyn Bridge, whose pedestrian overpass brought me back full circle home. Along the roughly 5 mile route I discovered an unfamiliar passage in Chinatown, Doyers Street, that I don’t remember ever traversing before, even after 35 plus years living hereabouts. Doyers reminds me of some of the tiny passageways you find in European cities, lined with restaurants spilling pools of light onto damp cobblestones (only here it is damp asphalt with signage in English and Cantonese or Mandarin).
The restaurants were filled to capacity, yet because of the recent rain a calm prevailed on much of the walk (at least until I got to the Brooklyn Bridge, which in any weather is packed with tourists).
Refreshed from my “holiday” out in the city with the Leica, I refrained from showing any New York attitude, even to the oblivious young man who kicked my ankle as I was making my way around one of the piers (he was taking a picture, so would need to be forgiven in any case).
The Ultramax 400 didn’t disappoint. Its punchy colors captured the violet-neon mood of the evening in fine fashion. The “Japanese Summilux” revealed its typically glowy character but also rendered things with just enough sharpness (despite the lens’s all-too obvious flaws) to hopefully be interesting. I hope you enjoy them.
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Ibraar Hussain on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
I lack the confidence and ability to ever try anything like this! Thank you
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Stelios Themelakis on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Reed George on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Will you take part in Leica’s 100th anniversary celebration in NYC this weekend? I will be there.
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Geoff Chaplin on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Scott Ferguson on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Another fantastic post. Consider me officially intrigued by shooting Ultramax at dusk into night! I had a magic evening in Banff shooting Ultramax during blue hour, https://www.35mmc.com/20/02/2025/10-shots-in-10-minutes-on-a-leica-m3-with-kodak-ultramax-400-in-banff-alberta/, but for me it was a bit of blind luck that I happened to have Ultramax in the camera as opposed to an informed creative decision. I'm still very much on the learning curve in terms of what different stocks do better than others. But I loved the photos and the deep rich colors that night and should definitely revisit Ultramax. I also haven't done a whole lot of night shooting, but NYC feels very target rich as your post shows in great style.
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Gary Smith on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Michael Keppler on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Comment posted: 29/04/2025
Jeffery Luhn on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 30/04/2025
Your Chinatown shots have a film noir look. Yes, I know that film noir is B&W, but you captured the gritty look in the high contrast colors. There's a TV serial entitled "Goliath" starring Billy Bob Thornton as an attorney/detective. In one season he takes a case in San Francisco and gets an apartment in Chinatown. I don't know the Director of Photography for that particular season, but it's a quantum leap above the others. Like your shots, it's a lot of red neon and wet streets. Go out and do more! Don't worry about your one camera promise. That was made by your evil twin.
Comment posted: 30/04/2025
Hannah Gimblett on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 30/04/2025
Thank you for sharing your work.
Comment posted: 30/04/2025
David Hume on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 30/04/2025
Comment posted: 30/04/2025
Nik Stanbridge on Holiday? Relapse? A Night Out with My Leica M3
Comment posted: 30/04/2025
Comment posted: 30/04/2025